[Skywarn] Fwd: The ARES E-Letter for May 16, 2012

[Lloyd Colston]

Here's a mention of Skywarn in the American Radio Relay League Amateur
Radio Emergency Services newsletter.  If you are interested in getting the
newsletter, point your browser to   http://www.arrl.org/ares-el

Lloyd

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: ARRL Web site <memberlist at www.arrl.org>
Date: Tue, May 15, 2012 at 11:25 PM
Subject: The ARES E-Letter for May 16, 2012
To: colstonl at gmail.com


Hams Active in Dexter, Michigan Tornado

On Thursday, March 15, at around 5:15 pm, the village of Dexter, Michigan
was struck by what the National Weather Service (NWS) has confirmed as an
EF-3 tornado, with maximum wind speeds of 135-140 mph. The storm was on the
ground for roughly half-an-hour, moving to the southeast before making a
left turn. The NWS estimated the path as a little over seven miles long and
roughly 800 yards wide. Though the storm caused considerable damage to
structures and personal property, no one was seriously injured or killed.

Reports indicated that this welcome outcome was due primarily to Washtenaw
County's system of warning sirens. Other reports give credit to the
SKYWARN® network of spotters, trained by the NWS to recognize conditions
leading up to severe weather, what it is and what can generate it. SKYWARN
volunteers served to give the NWS forecasters the information they needed
of what is actually happening in the field, information that they can't get
from their instruments, the so-called "ground-truth." While meteorologists
monitored conditions in the atmosphere above that lead to severe weather,
the destruction occurs at ground level, literally "under-the-radar."

SKYWARN spotters reported conditions from the safety of their homes, but
also ventured out in the field to provide information in the territory that
normally wouldn't be covered. Information was transmitted back to not only
the National Weather Service, but to county emergency service departments
and county dispatch centers.

The hams of Washtenaw County, in the field during their SKYWAN net, were
among the first to confirm the existence of a wall cloud; and confirm it
was rotating and that a tornado was forming. For their efforts, they were
pelted by debris and hail, and suffered damage to their vehicles, including
a shattered window.

During "peacetime," the hams of Washtenaw County as well as other counties
throughout the state, position themselves near the county's warning sirens
during the monthly test, providing information on the sirens that are
working and which need maintenance. - *Pat Mullett, KC8RTW, Michigan
Section Public Information Officer, kc8rtw at arrl.net*



-- 

Lloyd Colston KC5FM
Altus, OK USA http://wx5em.us
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